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Learning Japanese |OT2| Love in the Time of コロナちゃん
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SlimeGooGoo
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Zambatoh
Member
I'm still learning myself, but In my experience the best way to start, is to learn the two Kanas first. Specifically Hiragana and Katakana.Where do I start?
Learning these two alphabets can be done in any number of ways including using Duolingo's study guide, various mobile games/apps. There's also couple of PC games called "Learn Japanese to Survive - Hiragana" and it's Katakana and Kanji equivalents.
After this though, you might attempt to learn kanji, but you're also gonna want to supplement this with grammar and vocab words. Learn how to put sentences together. Also some words can mean different things depending on how they're spelled. For example: Kami means paper when written one way and when written another way, God.
SlimeGooGoo
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SlimeGooGoo
Banned
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Zambatoh
Member
I don't know about "official" tools, but there are plenty of Machine Translation apps out there, including Google translate.
Just don't try to translate entire sentences with them.
Porcile
Member
jshackles
Gentlemen, we can rebuild it. We have the capability to make the world's first enhanced store. Steam will be that store. Better than it was before.
I don't think I've posted in here yet, but I've been (seriously) learning Japanese since February. I say "seriously", because I've picked up a bit of a hodgepodge of the language through various means off and on over the last 25 years.
I started out with a bit of a refresher course in the kanas, until I could accurately identify all hiragana and katakana and their diacritics. For those I used Tofugu's guides (which were super duper helpful at getting my old ass to remember stuff) and the open source Fun with Kanji app.
Meanwhile, I did a couple of levels of Duolingo, which was fantastic at first, but kinda fell off the cliff of practicality near the middle of section two. It was still worth investing time into though, because it was a good way to learn a few basic phrases and to hear them out loud.
I've moved on now to studying in four different approaches:
I'm definitely still a beginner, but I feel like I'm making progress and hope to keep going with it. My wife and I are planning a nebulous trip to Japan "at some point when we can afford it" - so hopefully by the time that happens, I'll be able to get along fine.
I started out with a bit of a refresher course in the kanas, until I could accurately identify all hiragana and katakana and their diacritics. For those I used Tofugu's guides (which were super duper helpful at getting my old ass to remember stuff) and the open source Fun with Kanji app.
Meanwhile, I did a couple of levels of Duolingo, which was fantastic at first, but kinda fell off the cliff of practicality near the middle of section two. It was still worth investing time into though, because it was a good way to learn a few basic phrases and to hear them out loud.
I've moved on now to studying in four different approaches:
- Listening / Speaking: Pimsleur. I find this to be the ideal way to learn new phrases, although it's totally focused on listening and speaking - so there is no writing. This has the added benefit (for me) of being able to learn / practice while I'm hiking in the woods and nowhere near a computer.
- Grammar: I picked up a few Genki and other entry-level textbooks, and have been spending time studying them and going through the workbooks.
- Writing / Kanji: I've been using the Fun with Kanji app, Genki's "look and learn" textbook, and Tofugu's Wanikani website.
- Immersion: I've been listening to nothing but Japanese language music since February. If a movie, TV show, or video game has a Japanese language option, I've activated it. I've watched a lot of Youtube videos about places to visit in Japan, in Japanese.
I'm definitely still a beginner, but I feel like I'm making progress and hope to keep going with it. My wife and I are planning a nebulous trip to Japan "at some point when we can afford it" - so hopefully by the time that happens, I'll be able to get along fine.
I'm back on the language learning train again. Although I don't really feel like I've progressed that much since earlier this year. I plan to immerse myself a lot more though. I listen to a lot of Japanese learning podcasts and study for about 30 minutes a day with notecards. I'll start the writing studies next week. Maybe I'll feel like I've made progress if I'm reading everything in hiragana and katakana.
It is so annoying being familiar with a word that you hear in Japanese interview but forgetting what it means. At least I'm getting a better gist of the conversation these days.
It is so annoying being familiar with a word that you hear in Japanese interview but forgetting what it means. At least I'm getting a better gist of the conversation these days.
I took a month off this summer. I was consuming a lot of Japanese media (in English). I read the Japanese visual novel Witch on the Holy Night, have been watching the Monster anime series, and watched the Suzume movie. All excellent. That got me thinking. How about I try learning Japanese?
I would love to be able to read VN's in their original Japanese. The translations can be dodgy and many VN's are untranslated. At some point I would like to visit Japan and even knowing a bit of Japanese would help.
I've only been at it a week but have so far learned the hiragana. That's a start. I have a beginner's Japanese book coming - not Genki but something cheaper. I am a good visual learner but weak auditory learner. A good book will be important to me.
Next, I would like to learn how to put sentences together, then a bit of kanji, before circling back and learning the katakana. I think it will be important to learn how to put sentences together before learning a bunch of vocabulary I do not know how to use.
I find the lack of spaces between words in Japanese odd. On the other hand, I find the use of diacritics a great way to indicate a similar sound in a lower register, than using a new set of symbols.
I understand that the Korean language no longer uses Chinese characters or only in a very limited way. I understand that after WWII, both the South Korean (not sure about the DPRK) and Japanese governments decided to eliminate Chinese characters from their languages. That stuck for South Korean but not for Japan. Apparently post-WWII, literacy in South Korea was very low so there was not as much push-back as in Japan about eliminating a big part of their written language.
We'll see how far this goes. So far this has been interesting and I look forward to learning more. Maybe at some point I will try taking the N5.
I would love to be able to read VN's in their original Japanese. The translations can be dodgy and many VN's are untranslated. At some point I would like to visit Japan and even knowing a bit of Japanese would help.
I've only been at it a week but have so far learned the hiragana. That's a start. I have a beginner's Japanese book coming - not Genki but something cheaper. I am a good visual learner but weak auditory learner. A good book will be important to me.
Next, I would like to learn how to put sentences together, then a bit of kanji, before circling back and learning the katakana. I think it will be important to learn how to put sentences together before learning a bunch of vocabulary I do not know how to use.
I find the lack of spaces between words in Japanese odd. On the other hand, I find the use of diacritics a great way to indicate a similar sound in a lower register, than using a new set of symbols.
I understand that the Korean language no longer uses Chinese characters or only in a very limited way. I understand that after WWII, both the South Korean (not sure about the DPRK) and Japanese governments decided to eliminate Chinese characters from their languages. That stuck for South Korean but not for Japan. Apparently post-WWII, literacy in South Korea was very low so there was not as much push-back as in Japan about eliminating a big part of their written language.
We'll see how far this goes. So far this has been interesting and I look forward to learning more. Maybe at some point I will try taking the N5.
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I pretty much have done a reboot on my language learning this time around. I'm currently mastering katakana. For some odd reason katakana never stuck when I studied it in the past. I do have the Genki book and will start studying with that when I have feel I have completely mastered hiragana and katakana. Still studying vocab but mostly just reviewing the old jlpt 5 vocab list right now. I'd like to have the jlpt 5 and 4 vocab mastered by the end of this month. Will probably work on Genki next month.
I feel solid on the hiragana but need more practice on the katakana. Some of the katakana characters are easy, others not so much:
ツ シ
ソン
This phone app has been fun for learning kana:
brunchycafe.com
I started playing Tokyo Xanadu Ex+ (on the Switch) and spent time wandering around the city reading the signs. I could read a lot of the katakana in the modern shopping area in the game, like note(book) PC, tablet, etc. Though I was thrown a bit by the different font than what I've learned the kana on.
Next step is probably Genki 1. Before learning a bunch of vocabulary in the abstract, I'd like to learn how to put basic sentences together and use the vocab in those sentences.
ツ シ
ソン
This phone app has been fun for learning kana:
The Japanese Language RPG Quest - JLRPG Quest by Brunchy Cafe
Welcome to the Japanese Language RPG Quest! We're here to make learning Japanese fun! No more boring flashcards or memorizing lists. Adventure through our game to learn and practice Japanese!
brunchycafe.com
I started playing Tokyo Xanadu Ex+ (on the Switch) and spent time wandering around the city reading the signs. I could read a lot of the katakana in the modern shopping area in the game, like note(book) PC, tablet, etc. Though I was thrown a bit by the different font than what I've learned the kana on.
Next step is probably Genki 1. Before learning a bunch of vocabulary in the abstract, I'd like to learn how to put basic sentences together and use the vocab in those sentences.
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Shake Your Rump
Member
Just discovered this topic here. I started learning Japanese back with Splatoon, just so I could read the player names. Now, I'm muddling through a few manga and know a few hundred kanji.
Learned katakana and hirgana on my own. Did Genki I with a tutor. Been doing wanikani for years. I took a break from everything during Covid years, but been getting into reading over the past year.
My goal has always been to play Final Fantasy VII in Japanese.
Learned katakana and hirgana on my own. Did Genki I with a tutor. Been doing wanikani for years. I took a break from everything during Covid years, but been getting into reading over the past year.
My goal has always been to play Final Fantasy VII in Japanese.
I've taken the next step in my 日本語 journey. I got the Genki 1 textbook and workbook.
So far I'm impressed with the Genki textbook. I downloaded the Genki audio files which have been helpful.
Before getting Genki, I made sure I was solid on hiragana and katakana. I see in Chapter/Lesson 3 they stop using romanji, which is good because I want to wean myself of romanji.
So far I'm impressed with the Genki textbook. I downloaded the Genki audio files which have been helpful.
Before getting Genki, I made sure I was solid on hiragana and katakana. I see in Chapter/Lesson 3 they stop using romanji, which is good because I want to wean myself of romanji.
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